Mini gift box

Since I had to fly to my cousin’s wedding, I didn’t want to bring something big and heavy on the plane, and just giving someone a card in a check is rather impersonal (and lazy if you ask me!). Enter the modified “tooth fairy” box for said check. These are a piece of cake to make out of 2.5” wide stock. All you need is a saw, a drill, and a couple forstner bits. The lid rotates on a pin in the corner. Edges are rounded off and a round piece of felt is inserted as finishing touches. Add a light coat of Danish oil & some paste wax, and you’re done!

I actually cheated for the pin… all I did was tape the lid on, flip the box over, and drill straight through with a forstner bit for the dowel (1/4” oak maybe?) I had on hand. Obviously you’ll want to set the depth on your drill press first :)

On another project, I used a different method that doesn’t involve drilling through the bottom: make the lid bigger than the box, mark your hole center on both pieces, drill, glue the dowel into the top, and then use a router pattern bit to make the top sit flush.